VIDEO: STATE EXAMS: Reaction to maths is generally positive

Following a tough ordinary level maths paper on Friday for most Leaving Certificate students, reaction seemed much more positive to yesterday morning’s paper 2.

Regarding difficulties complained of by many students on Friday, Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) maths spokesperson Robert Chaney said everybody will be treated the same when it comes to marking the paper. But, he said, they may still feel disappointed if they were unable to demonstrate their knowledge and skills because of some particular questions.

He said ordinary level Paper 2 had a lot of questions that were set out very clearly, one part of a question about student heights data even giving them a hint to keep them on track. However, part of a probability question about a six-digit banking password required hard thinking; and progress in the second question hinged on being able to do the first part about a slope right, which many found tough because it was not clear to all students that the information needed was given in the first line of the question.